Continuing computer-based work when you are injured or dis-abled
Approx. reading time: 6 minutes
How did we manage computer work before speech recognition software? I have been grateful for it for the past 10 years, since I started experiencing dystonia1 in my right, dominant hand. It is a neurological disorder that had a gradual onset and resulted in my hand cramping up into a fist as soon as I picked up a pen or any other small item, or started typing. Think of it as an instant writer’s cramp that doesn’t go away and has no cure (and in my case progressed further than the initial two affected fingers). It means that my typing accuracy is diminished and I get painful cramps and spasms in my hand, wrist and forearm from extended keyboard or computer mouse use. Or any other daily, household tasks, like chopping vegetables.
My first speech recognition software was a present from my sister. It was interesting learning how to use the Dragon software. After an initial process of “training” the program to recognise my voice and speech patterns, it continuously updates my user profile to add newly dictated or directly pronounced words to its dictionary.
It also goes beyond just typing, which by the way it can do in a Word document, Excel spreadsheet or in an email application like Outlook or Gmail. Once you know the commands and shortcuts, you can even open tabs and request certain actions. I admit that I don’t use that option enough, as my biggest need is the typing assistance.
Using voice to text software reduces a great deal of the discomfort and frustration for me in my daily work on a computer.
Recently, I experimented with other voice recognition programs, including dictating text messages and emails on my Android mobile phone. Those still require a great deal of proofreading and editing, though they do save me from a lot of mis/typing on those tiny little keyboards. I also tried two free online programs, which I found varied from so-so to terrible in terms of accuracy. I will add a disclaimer that I have a “funny” Anglo-German accent, which often stumps these programs and results in a range of comical or horrendous words being typed! So, I concluded that Dragon by Nuance was still by far the most efficient and accurate program out there. Unfortunately, they also seem to know that and have priced their product higher and higher in the last years.
Still, after my frustration with other programs I upgraded from Dragon 13 to 15 (version 13 is probably still alright, if you have that already, but my old version is installed on my old and slow desktop computer and the licence to download it had expired). I am very grateful that these programs exist and remove a lot of pain for me and other people who need assistance with typing and using a computer. And even if you don’t have any disabilities, it helps to prevent repetitive strain injuries in your hands and saves you a lot of typing if you regularly write blogs, long articles or a book!
Here are the three speech recognition programs I tried recently.
1. Dragon by Nuance. Very good, also a little pricey at US$150 (around C$210) for the most basic version of their programs, Dragon Home 15. You can also buy more specialised versions like Dragon Professional and Dragon Legal. All of them allow you to dictate text and commands in any application. The accuracy and speed are extremely good, and they seem to have fixed the previous issue the program caused when interacting with Outlook. I do think their success may have gone to their heads though. Their online purchasing page and user account interface look like something from decades gone by and didn’t actually work, resulting in my having to place a phone call to buy the product, which took a tedious 30 minutes for what should have been a five-minute online purchase. The program download and setup worked fine and so far I still think it’s a great program.
2. Speechnotes.co. Free, online and ready to go with no voice training needed. Gives you options for regional accents. With my funny Anglo-German accent I tried UK English and South-African, which worked equally well in recognizing my voice. The downside is with Speechnotes you can only dictate on their website and then need to copy the typed text and toggle to the document or email where you want to paste it. Accuracy was okay but did require corrections. Overall, not bad for a free program and definitely better than # 3….
3. Windows 10 Speech Recognition. Free, already built into your computer as part of Windows 10. You can dictate text and commands directly in Word, Excel and email. Despite it having some voice training during the setup process, I found it to have appalling speech recognition – not just bad but literally unuseable in my case. Again, maybe due to my strange accent but then again, I speak good English and enunciate well. Maybe you will have better luck with it recognizing your voice.
Have a look at this top five technology list for more options in speech recognition, as well as task managers: https://bit.ly/2Q2NT5F
If you want to increase your speed and accuracy of typing, have a short or long-term injury or disability (I had recently added having one arm in a sling due to a shoulder injury), I encourage you to use speech recognition, also known as voice-to-text, and hope you find one that works for you – your hands will thank you!
REFERENCE:
1 What is focal hand dystonia? https://dystonia-foundation.org/what-is-dystonia/types-dystonia/hand-dystonia/